Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup [1] added as a binder. It is similar to marzipan, but has a coarser texture. Almond paste is used as a filling in pastries, but it can also be found in chocolates. In commercially manufactured almond paste, ground apricot or peach kernels are sometimes added to keep the cost down (also known as persipan).
Almond paste is used as a filling in pastries of many different cultures. It is a chief ingredient of the American bear claw pastry. In the Nordic countries almond paste is used extensively, in various pastries and cookies. In Sweden [2] (where it is known as mandelmassa) it is used in biscuits, muffins and buns and as a filling in the traditional Shrove Tuesday pastry semla [3] [4] and is used in Easter and Christmas sweets. In Denmark (where it is known as marcipan or mandelmasse), almond paste is used in several pastries, for example as a filling in the Danish traditional pastry kringle . In Finland almond paste (called mantelimassa) is used in chocolate pralines and in the Finnish version of the Shrove Tuesday pastry laskiaispulla.
In the Netherlands, almond paste (called amandelspijs) is used in gevulde speculaas (stuffed brown-spiced biscuit) and banket. It is used as filling in the fruited Christmas bread Kerststol , traditionally eaten at Christmas breakfast. In Germany, almond paste is also used in pastries and sweets. In German, almond paste is known as Marzipanrohmasse and sold for example as Lübecker Edelmarzipan, i.e. "high quality marzipan from Lübeck".
It Italy it is known as "pasta di mandorle". The soft paste is molded into creative shapes by pastry chefs which can be used as cake decorations or to make frutta martorana. [5]
Almond paste is the main ingredient of French traditional calisson candy in Aix-en-Provence. It is used as a filling in almond croissants .
In Turkey, almond paste is traditionally made in Edirne, once the capital of the Ottoman Empire. During the Ottoman era of Turkish history, it was a royal delight mostly used in palace. It is now sold at delight shops in Istanbul and Edirne.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections.
A Danish pastry is a multilayered, laminated sweet pastry in the viennoiserie tradition. It is thought that some bakery techniques were brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers, and originated the name of this pastry. The Danish recipe is however different from the Viennese one and has since developed into a Danish specialty.
Pralines are confections containing nuts – usually almonds, pecans and hazelnuts – and sugar. Cream is a common third ingredient.
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal, sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract.
A semla, vastlakukkel, laskiaispulla, Swedish eclair, fastlagsbulle/fastelavnsbolle or vēja kūkas is a traditional sweet roll made in various forms in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Estonia, and Latvia, associated with Lent and especially Shrove Tuesday in most countries, Shrove Monday in Denmark, parts of southern Sweden, Iceland and Faroe Islands or Sunday of Fastelavn in Norway. In Sweden it is most commonly known as just semla, but is also known as fettisdagsbulle, lit. 'Fat Tuesday bun' or 'Shrove Tuesday bun'. In the southern parts of Sweden, as well as in Swedish-speaking Finland, it is known as fastlagsbulle. In Poland it is known as ptyś. In Estonia it is called vastlakukkel. In Norway and Denmark it is called fastelavnsbolle. In Iceland, it is known as a bolla and served on Bolludagur. In Faroe Islands it is called Føstulávintsbolli, and is served on Føstulávintsmánadagur. In Latvia, it is called vēja kūkas. Semla served in a bowl of hot milk is hetvägg.
Icing, or frosting, is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling.
Dutch cuisine is formed from the cooking traditions and practices of the Netherlands. The country's cuisine is shaped by its location on the fertile Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta at the North Sea, giving rise to fishing, farming, and overseas trade. Due to the availability of water and flat grassland, the Dutch diet contains many dairy products such as butter and cheese. The court of the Burgundian Netherlands enriched the cuisine of the elite in the Low Countries in the 15th and 16th century, so did in the 17th and 18th century colonial trade, when the Dutch ruled the spice trade, played a pivotal role in the global spread of coffee, and started the modern era of chocolate, by developing the Dutch process chocolate.
Qurabiya also ghraybe, ghorayeba, ghoriba, ghribia, ghraïba, gurabija, ghriyyaba, or kourabiedes and numerous other spellings and pronunciations, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab, Balkan and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia.
Semmelwrap is a Swedish pastry.
The Dutch letter is a type of pastry that is typically prepared using a mixture of flour, eggs and butter or puff pastry as its base and filled with almond paste, dusted with sugar and shaped in an "S" or other letter shape. Marzipan, an almond paste prepared with almond meal and honey or sugar, is sometimes used as the filling. The Dutch letter has a porous or airy and flaky texture.
Banket (bahn-KET) is a type of sweet pastry filled with almond paste, which originated in the Netherlands. It is made in several forms, each of which go by various names. One variety consists of long bars or loaves which are sliced into individual servings – also referred to in English as almond rolls or almond patties, and in Dutch as banketstaven. Another variety are rolled logs shaped into letters – also referred to in English as Dutch letters, banket letters, almond letters, or butter letters; and in Dutch as banketletter or boterletter. It is sometimes made as individual banket or almond patties.
Impade is a cookie of Sephardi Jewish origin that is most commonly found among members of the Venetian Jewish community and their descendants, and is traditionally prepared at Purim, but is also prepared year round.